


The Strange Case of Harold Denaboir and Selena Lockhart

by OfCabbagesandKings10647



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Abortion Guilting, Abuse of Authority, Abuse of the Homeless, Animal Abuse, Animal Death, Biblical Allusions (Abrahamic Religions), Blood and Gore, Bribery, Duality of Man, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Gambling, Graphic Description of Corpses, Graphic Descriptions of Murder, Guilt, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Mature Reader Required, Mentions Of Infidelity, Murder, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Rape/Non-con Elements, Self-Hatred, Suicidal Thoughts, Themes of Sexual (Im)purity, Torture, Unwanted Pregnancy, graphic smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:22:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29574540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfCabbagesandKings10647/pseuds/OfCabbagesandKings10647
Summary: Basically just a Jekyll/Hyde AU based on the musical that I came up with.Arthur Mahoney dreamed of a world free from the grips of evil. When the proposal for funding to recruit paid volunteers is rejected, he and his team have no choice but to put the experiment aside, years of work being abandoned. In addition, Severa, a woman on his team that he harbors feelings for is reassigned to the rival research team. Unable to accept the board of directors' decision, Arthur tests the serum on himself.Severa is also secretly in love with Arthur and is devastated by the reassignment, but more so by the abandonment of the research project, knowing how much it meant to Arthur. Stealing a vial of the serum, Severa decides independently to test the serum on herself.The two of them suffer devastating consequences from the injection, sinful urges and feelings amplified and coming to the forefront of their minds. Keeping what is happening to them a secret from everyone else, each of them struggles alone as the evil in their souls slowly takes over.This story REQUIRES a mature reader, more details on why in the first chapter opening notes, but also because every tag is 100% serious.
Relationships: Brady/Cynthia (Fire Emblem), Elise/Odin (Fire Emblem), Frederick/Sumia (mentioned/implied), Guire | Gaius/Maribelle (mentioned/implied), Harold | Arthur/Luna | Selena, Harold | Arthur/Serena | Severa, Henry/Tiamo | Cordelia (mentioned/implied)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I was listening to the Broadway Recording/Concept Album for the Jekyll and Hyde musical, and this idea came to me.
> 
> This will be a very dark, violent/gory, dirty fic, with the ending planned to be happy, though I also have an idea for a tragedy ending, so depending on if anyone asks for it, I can post a “choose your own ending” type thing, the good and bad ending.
> 
> ***IMPORTANT***  
> Because this is a “Jekyll and Hyde” au, there is an obvious overlap with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and associated disorders. I want to be VERY CLEAR that this fic is NOT in any way an attempt at a commentary on DID. There are overlaps with DID and what Arthur and Severa may go through, but again, THIS IS NOT TRYING TO INVOKE OR OTHERWISE SAY SOMETHING ON THE TOPIC. I am writing based on my personal feelings/experiences and such. Because this work is very mature, it will REQUIRE a mature reader. You the reader need to understand what I have said above. Though overlapping with DID, this is not intended to be related to it. Do not draw conclusions that I’m trying to say something about DID, because I’m not. Though you may be tempted to relate it to or otherwise be reminded of DID, do not make that connection. I am not intending or trying to add to the negative stigma surrounding DID, I just wanted to write something I’ve not done before. 
> 
> This point will be made several times in the future at the beginning of certain chapters as a reminder. If you leave a comment saying something negative, I will not respond to it like I may do others. I am not going to get into a discussion about my choices in this story.

* * *

If you asked someone in this world where they dreamed to live, where of all the places on the globe they most wished to carry out their daily lives, virtually everyone you asked would choose the city of Ylisstol.

Ylisstol, a place admired and envied by outsiders and foreigners alike, a place that seemed to possess the spirit of progress itself, inhabited by well-off and well-to-do-folk, a shining city of virtue and purity. This is the place that most people would choose, a place of bustling streets and beautiful architecture, of high society soirees and the best quality goods a person could buy.

But if one were to shed the rose-tinted glasses, if one were to look just a little deeper, they would find that like all things that seemed too good to be true, Ylisstol was not what it appeared to be.

Past the posh gentleman and ladies, behind the white stone buildings, under the facade of civility was another world, hidden and kept under the covers, pushed far away and out of sight.

In this world, the Devil was king, and all who it touched were slaves to despair and desperation. In this world, crime ran rampant and homelessness was common. Children went hungry, and money was always tight. The boys would join gangs and commit sins as petty as theft, as serious as murder. The girls would be lured by wicked men and women into sinful work, their bodies servicing the whims and violence of whoever had the coin.

In this world, the streets were filthy, trash littering the gutters and alleys, grime caked onto the walls. It was as though the sun itself was afraid to show itself here, for even on the brightest of days this part of town appeared dark and shadowy. The opportunities for honest work were few and far in-between as people coveted these positions, showing up to work at the beck and call of their bosses, too fearful of dismissal to ask for raises or days off.

During the day, the docks and piers signified the border between the boulevards of virtue and the streets of sin, an impenetrable wall that kept the two sides of morality strictly separate. But at night, this border dissipated, the line between good and evil thinning and blurring with the fog that rolled in every evening.

It was when the light of day slipped away that this part of town became a playground for the wealthy, the establishments here slaking the lusts for sex, gambling, and booze that drew the upper-class like moths to a flame. These “gentlemen and ladies” would indulge in all their most base desires here, becoming demons under the dark of night, returning to their lives of propriety and piety as the fog choking the streets lifted with the rising sun.

Not all of the upper and middle class indulged in such behaviors, some sins didn’t need as extreme outlets, but in this town of two worlds, no one was innocent.

In a hospital in the upper part of the city, one team of scientists was achingly aware of this fact. The head of this team of doctors, in particular, sought to rid the world of baser instincts, to save mankind from the pull of evil. This man had dedicated his entire career to the study of the various madnesses of Man, working to understand the “why”. He dreamed of eliminating such desires from the psyche, and after nearly 10 years, he was on the brink of this dream being realized.

His team had been working on a serum that would separate the base desires from the mind, effectively cleansing the soul, leaving behind only the purest of feelings and intentions. They had received promising results from each of the series of animal tests performed, but now they needed human test subjects.

“Arthur, the meetin’s gonna start soon, we need ta head over to the board room.”

The head scientist, Arthur Mahoney, looked up from his speaking notes, one of his colleagues holding a key to the lab, getting ready to lock up before they headed to the meeting that would decide the course of their careers.

“Sure thing Brady, give me a second.”

Arthur put his notes down, not needing them for the actual meeting, he and his team having rehearsed what they would say so many times they could have pitched the project in their sleep.

Arthur picked up his lab coat from the back of the chair he had been sitting in, such attire a requirement when meeting with the board of directors, pulling it on as he and Brady left the lab, locking the door, and quickly making their way to the meeting room.

Arthur was feeling confident that they would get the funding for their project. Their research and methodology had been flawless for all these years, and their team worked well together, fast and efficient and producing results that other teams failed to produce in their own projects.

“Brady, Arthur, over here!”

The two men approached the one who had called them over, a woman with short, dark brown hair, held up in a pair of pigtails. 

“Cynthia, ready ta go?”

The woman in question, Cynthia, smiled widely and nodded at Brady’s question, and led them over to a small group of people, two men and two women, speaking animatedly, their excitement palpable even from the distance.

“Hello everyone, are we all ready for this?”

The group turned at Arthur’s voice, grinning at the head of their team. 

“You betcha Arthur, we’re ready to wow the board of directors, get that funding, and finish what we started.”

“Excellent, well the doors should open soon, so- wait, Owain, where’s your coat?”

The man who had previously spoken looked down at himself, alarm filling his face as he realized that he was indeed missing his lab coat.

“SHIT! Quick someone give me the key to the lab, if I run I can probably make it in time-”

“Calm down, ya idiot.” Brady interjected, cutting off Owain’s panic, “I noticed you left it behind, I got it right here.”

Relief washed over Owain’s face, gratefully receiving the coat and throwing it on.

“Whew, thanks Brady. Honestly, it’s so _stupid_ they _require_ us to wear a lab coat for these things, it’s not like we’re supposed to be wearing them out of the lab anyway. I mean really, what hospital or university gives its researchers lab coats _specifically_ for meetings? Ridiculous.”

“It may be ridiculous”, Arthur said, “but it’s something they require all the same, so we must abide by their wishes.”

“Well hello all, ready to lose the funding to us?”

The group turned as another team of scientists walked up the team, heads held high and carrying themselves with an air of arrogance, a smug look on their leader’s face. Brady groaned audibly, wincing when Cynthia stepped on his foot to shut him up.

“Ah... Subaki, you’re feeling rather confident I take it.”

The leader of the group, Subaki, smirked at Arthur’s comment, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You could say that. Honestly, you might as well go back to your lab, I have a _very_ good feeling that my team is pretty much guaranteed to get the funding.”

“I don’t know Subaki,” Arthur countered, “our team has produced some promising results, I would say that there's a good chance _we_ could get the funding.”

Subaki rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Is that so? Tell me, how long now have you been working on your stupid morality serum?”

Before Arthur could respond, another of his team stepped up, glaring at the other scientist.

“Would you _shut up_ Subaki? You know perfectly well that we’ve been through several stages of this experiment, and that years of preliminary work had to be done first. Where are you with _your_ project anyway? If I recall correctly, we’ve completed far more work in the past 6 months than your team has over the last _year_. And a morality serum is 100 times more interesting than your rabbit olfaction survey.”

Rather than look irritated, Subaki’s smirk changed to something more charming, looking over Arthur’s teammate with a smile.

“Severa, our study is important because eventually, we will be testing the effects of certain scents on the human psyche, which could lead to exciting advancements in optimal care for patients in a hospital setting.”

Severa rolled her eyes, about to say something more when the door to the board room opened, the secretary for the board stepping out.

“You may come in now and prepare yourselves, the board of directors will be here in five minutes.”

Subaki smirked at Arthur and the others, before beckoning at his team and leading them into the room.

Arthur nodded at his own team, and they walked forward, a look of determination on all their faces.

“Arthur, wait.”

Arthur turned back, the rest of the team continuing on as he stopped for Severa. 

Severa took a few steps toward him, entering his personal space. Arthur looked down at the woman in front of him as she reached up, adjusting the collar of his shirt.

“We’re going to do great, I know it.” Severa said softly, her hands moving to smooth out the lines of his shoulders. “We’ll show that stupid Subaki how wrong he is when we get the funding.”

Arthur’s lips turned up at Severa’s confidence, his hands reaching up to squeeze hers affectionately. “We’ve worked hard,” Arthur replied, “And I’m sure the board of directors will agree. Let’s go, the others are waiting.”

Severa smiled at him and nodded, her hands slipping off his form as she proceeded into the room, Arthur following close behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a reminder, this story will be very mature. There will be graphic descriptions of violence, explicit sexual scenes, and in-depth descriptions of feelings of guilt and self-hate. There will be suicidal ideation, unwanted pregnancy, disregard for the lives/abuse of homeless people, mentions or outright talk/description of alcoholism and drug/gambling addiction, mentioned infidelity and pregnancy in affairs, abuse of power, and animal abuse. There may be more things that I can’t think of at the moment. Because the explicit sexual scenes are between the Hyde versions of Arthur and Severa, and because Arthur and Severa are mentally present/can feel/see/hear/otherwise perceive and sense what is going on, I am tagging this as rape, because their feelings on their Hyde versions fucking will also be described in detail.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes before we begin chapter 2:
> 
> Arthur’s last name, Mahoney (Ma-HOE-knee) is what I got when I played around with the letters of what google told me the French word for “misfortune” is (malheur).
> 
> There are certain familial relationships that I am making for this story. In this, Severa and Cynthia are cousins, their mothers are sisters. Arthur is the cousin of Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise, and their mothers are sisters. Unlike in the game, in this Xander, Camila, Leo, and Elise not only share their father Garon, but they also share their mother.
> 
> Characters in this sorta stray from their canon characterizations a lot in this story. Specifically, I’ve assigned “sins” to each character, and the antagonists to the story have more severe/exaggerated and/or currently “active” sins, whereas the protagonists/neutral characters’ sins have either (imo) less severe sins or have reformed.
> 
> As for titles used, even though in-game they are ruling nobility it doesn’t make sense for Kings and Queens to be in a city and not in the palace of their nation doing monarch stuff, like, you know, ruling the land. So Garon, Sumeragi, and Mikoto are demoted to Prince/Princess, but as their children, the others retain the title of prince/ss as well. As far as for example Ryoma, while he is from Hoshido, he is General of the Ylissean army.

* * *

The room for the proposals meeting was a large room, the walls and ceiling painted white as one might expect to see in a hospital, the light fixtures built into the ceiling emitting a strong, harsh shine reflecting off of the dark tiled floor. As with most of the rest of the hospital and the labs it contained, this room was on the cooler side, though the scientists didn’t take much note of it, so used to the lower temperature in their work environments that they were for the most part unaffected.

A long table holding eleven chairs was set out, a nameplate at each of the seats. A second, shorter table was placed next to it, the secretary and a meeting scribe seated already.

A number of chairs were arranged in front and to the side of the long table, Subaki’s team already seated, Arthur’s just settling in. Arthur and Severa took their seats near the back behind their teammates, excitement settling in their guts as they awaited the arrival of the directors.

The two teams talked quietly amongst themselves, Subaki’s team occasionally shooting smirks at their rivals, though they studiously ignored them.

Suddenly, the door to the room reopened, and one by one the directors filed into the room. The scientists stood when the directors entered, waiting for them to take their seats before they too sat down again.

The secretary stood, clearing his throat before addressing the room, the scribe beginning to type away at a typewriter, recording everything that was said.

“On this day of May 17th, 1834, at the time of 3 and a half hours in the afternoon, this meeting of the Board of Directors of St. Anankos Hospital is now in session.”

The secretary then began to introduce the directors, a gesture all of Arthur’s team found unnecessary but understanding that it was a formality, all for the sake of the record.

“Called in no order of significance, directors please assert your presence when introduced.”

“Chief Physician of Infectious Disease, His Highness Prince Garon of Nohr.”

“Present.”

“Chief Physician of Oncology, His Highness Prince Sumeragi of Hoshido.”

“Here.”

“Chief Physician of Cardiology, Her Highness Princess Mikoto of Hoshido.”

“Present.”

“Chief Physician of Psychiatry, His Highness Prince Xander of Nohr.”

“Present.”

“General of the Ylissean Army, His Highness Prince Ryoma of Hoshido.”

“Here.”

“Chief of the Ylisstol Capital Police Force, Her Highness Princess Hinoka.”

“I’m here.”

“The Honorable Justice to the Supreme Court of Ylisse, His Highness Prince Takumi of Hoshido.”

“Present.”

“Her Grace, Princess Sakura of Hoshido, Bishop of the Ylisstol Church of Naga.”

“Here.”

“The Right Honorable Princess Camilla of Nohr, King’s Counsel”

“Present.”

“The Honorable Chief Justice to the Supreme Court of Ylisse, His Highness Prince Leo of Nohr.”

“Present.”

“And finally, Attorney at Law, His Highness Prince Corrin of Valla.”

“Here.”

“This meeting will be overseen by the Secretary to the Board of Directors, Mr. Benjamin Purdue. As a reminder to all present, each director will get one vote per proposal and may vote any way they choose for each. The proposal with the most votes of support will receive 50,000 dollars in funding to be used for their research.”

The secretary then turned to the scientists. “The first order of business, Proposition Number 732, presented by the research team headed by Doctor Subaki Hokori.”

Subaki’s team stood and moved to stand in front of the table of the directors, one of the members of the team passing out papers to each of the waiting audience.

Once each director had received their papers, Subaki began to present.

“Directors of the board, we come to you with the results of the most recent tests in our series of experiments studying animal olfaction and the physiological effects in response to certain odors that we are developing in the lab. If you’ll take a look at page 2, our experiments have shown significant responses to each of our synthesized scents, with each one triggering a specific response that affects an emotional response in the subjects. We ask that you consider the possibility of using the scents in humans, with the intent of improving patient mood and subsequently positively affecting their rate of recovery from surgery or other illnesses. Our current results are from tests on rabbits, and our next phase of testing is intended on a more complex animal, though we are not quite ready to test on non-human primates.”

“And what animal do you have in mind Dr. Hokori?”

“The next animals we wish to test on are dogs. They have evolved to connect with human emotions, and so we feel that they would be the best and most expressive option to study before non-human primates.”

Silence fell over the room as the directors processed the proposal, though none of them seemed to have anything to say. 

The secretary addressed the directors, signaling the time for deliberation and questions, which was short as the directors didn’t seem to have any questions or qualms at all with the proposal. The vote ended up being 8 ayes to 3 nays, and the proposing team beamed at the result.

Subaki’s team thanked the directors, returning to their seats, and the secretary then introduced the next proposal.

“The second order of business, Proposition Number 733, presented by the research team headed by Doctor Arthur Mahoney.”

Arthur’s team stood, confidence held in their postures and expressions as they took to the floor, one of them passing out their team’s presentation papers to the directors.

“Distinguished Directors,” Arthur began, the words that had been practiced so many times flowing from his lips, “Today we ask you to consider the possibility of eradicating evil itself from Mankind entirely. Our team is in the process of creating a serum that will isolate the base and sinful urges and desires that have terrorized humanity since the beginning of time.”

“As you are aware,” Owain continued, picking up a second after Arthur, “Crimes of passion are an issue around the world, however, it is perhaps nowhere more prominent than in our city of Ylisstol.”

Brady picked up next. “If you turn to page 5 of our provided document, you will see the crime statistics of our city, provided by none other than our own city’s police force, and compared to the crime statistics of the cities of Nohr, Hoshido, and Valla. While Ylisstol is a much bigger city, if you look at the math, the rate of crime per capita is nearly 15% higher in Ylisstol than in the other three cities _combined_.

“Our tests on animals that have been assessed and declared aggressive have had promising results,” Cynthia continued, “with the effects of the serum appearing nearly instantaneously. Once injected, the animals no longer display aggressive tendencies, in fact becoming quite docile and relaxed, and we have not observed any return to aggressive behaviors in any of the test subjects.”

“Based on our results, we believe that we are ready to proceed to experimentation on humans. We come asking not only for funding to pay human test subjects as compensation but also for approval to take our experiment to the next step.” Severa finished, their team glowing with pride in their work.

“You’re telling us that you want to play with the human psyche, poking and prodding as though it were the mind of a rat?” Prince Sumeragi asked, his tone offended.

“We want to rid the human psyche of its sinful impulses, our ultimate goal is to rid the world of crime.”

“And just _who are you_ to attempt to alter what the Gods have made? Have you considered that it would be _more_ sinful for you to play as though you were one of them?” Ryoma sneered.

“I’ll say right now that the Church of Naga will _never_ support attempts by humans to change that which the Gods have created.” Sakura exclaimed, glaring at the group, “If the Gods did not intend something, they would not have made it so.” 

“This whole experiment oozes blasphemy,” Hinoka commented, “I can’t in good conscience support such an endeavor.” 

“From a legal standpoint, I think this business is too risky,” Takumi said, “Barbaric. Heretical! No, I can’t support this either.”

“May I remind you,” came a reply from Mikoto, “that you are doing research for a _hospital_. Your research should be focused on making improvements to current techniques and medications, not this dangerous lunacy!”

“Now hold on a moment!” Xander cut in, the angry expressions from the Hoshidans turning on him, “There are asylums all over the nation filled to the brim with souls broken from their inability to control themselves and function in civil society. Don’t we as humans have a duty to our fellow men to ease their suffering, to help them return to the light from which they have strayed?”

“I agree with Xander,” Camilla said, “you said yourself, Lady Mikoto, that we are discussing hospital-backed research. One looks to a hospital for healing, not only of physical damage but mental as well.”

“I honestly think it’s a good idea myself,” Leo interjected, “With fewer crimes of passion, the courts could try trials that need real deliberation, not waste time on cut and dry cases that the jury decides on almost immediately.”

“Enough of this!” came a shout from Corrin, “I say we hold the vote immediately, it seems that everyone has made up their mind already anyway, no amount of deliberation will change that.”

Taking the cue, the secretary began the voting roll call. As each director gave their vote, the team’s hearts dropped further and further, until the secretary called out the result.

“The result of the vote for Proposition Number 733 is 3 ayes, 7 nays, and one abstention. This means Proposition Number 732 has garnered more support, and as such, the amount of 50,000 dollars of funding will be awarded to the research team of Dr. Subaki Hokori. Thank you all for your time today, I now declare this meeting finished.”

The team stood in shock, their eyes wide with surprise at the turn of events as Subaki’s team congratulated each other. How could it have ended this way?

“I _told_ you we’d get the funding,” came the smug voice of Subaki, his and his team’s postures arrogant, snickering as they passed.

Slowly, the team of crushed scientists made their way back to their lab, filing into the room and collapsing into chairs, unable to believe that everything they had been working for had ended like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based this scene pretty heavily on the song from the Jekyll/Hyde concept album “Board of Governors”.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know this hasn’t gotten graphic yet, it actually probably won’t for the next three or so chapters, but when it does I’ll put something in the chapter notes.
> 
> There will be a change in the appearance of Arthur and Severa when they go into “Hyde mode”, so as a reference Severa is a Henry!Severa, her hair is white. I think I do a Henry!Severa in pretty much every fic anyway, but just in case.

* * *

The team of scientists sat in silence, the minutes slipping past them in their delirious state, unable to believe that they had been denied the funding.

“What the FUCK was that?!” Severa finally exclaimed, her anger ripping through the silence. “They didn’t even ask about the experiment, most of them just immediately shot it down. They didn’t even let us defend ourselves!”

“I don’t understand either,” another member of the team said, a man named Inigo, “they’ve been supportive of our research all these years, they _know_ what our intended goal is. Why did they only object now?”

“Sumthin’ doesn’t make sense,'' Brady huffed as he ran a hand through his hair, “they even gave Subaki’s team the whole 50 thousand. In the past they would modify the amount given to them. What changed?”

A knock at the door broke the team from their confused discussion. They called for the visitor to enter, and when the door opened Xander stepped into the lab room.

“Greetings all,” Xander said, his face betraying traces of upset, “Well that didn’t go as expected.”

“You’re telling us Brother,” the last member of the team spoke, “What happened?”

Xander sighed, “Honestly Elise, I’m not sure. Obviously we knew what both teams were coming to us with today, and just last week all the directors seemed to be on board with giving you the funding. I’m not sure what changed so quickly.”

“Well... This just means we need to double down on the last series of experiments. Produce more results, prove that this project is sound.”

“Actually Owain...” Xander said, hesitating, his features marred by a grimace, “The board held another vote after you all left... Except for Father, myself, Camilla, and Leo, the rest of them voted to... discontinue your experiment. They said that they don’t see themselves ever voting to allow for human participation in the project, and as such find it unnecessary and a waste of money and resources to continue with it.”

Silence fell over the room as the team absorbed and processed what was just said, and then there was an explosion of anger, with every member yelling at once.

“WHAT?!”

Xander winced at the sudden sound and the volume at which it was emitted, letting the echo fade before he addressed the room again.

“I know... I tried to argue for you, as I do think that this line of study is promising and would prove to be extremely valuable, but the naysayers outnumbered us greatly, and ultimately they got their way.”

“This is... this is madness!” Cynthia cried.

“10 years... we’ve been workin’ on this for nearly 10 years!” Brady shouted, his face flushing with anger, “Our entire careers, from the day we earned our white coats we’ve been workin’ on this, and they want us to abandon it?!”

Xander grimaced again, as though he were in pain. “I am aware of how long you’ve all been working on this project, and I know how much it means to you all. Hell, I was the first one to support the endeavor! But the majority of the board has made the decision. If I could, I’d raise the money needed to recruit volunteers myself, but you would still need board approval to start human experimentation... I’m sorry.”

“So what do they want us ta do now?”

“Tomorrow I’ll come by first thing and give you a list of projects they have approved and want work started on. Most of it is in the preliminary stages, so you’ll be picking a few projects to work with.”

“Well... at least we still have each other. Our team is by far the most productive of all the other ones at this hospital, so we should be okay, right?”

“Actually Elise... and I hate to be the bearer of bad news... Dr. Hokori has requested an additional member... and the Hoshido and Valla board members decided to reassign Severa to their team.”

Again the room fell into silence, the only noise the tick of the clock above the door. Wide eyes stared at Xander, their minds blank as the shock immobilized them.

“Wha... What? They’re... _reassigning_ me?”

Xander nodded sadly. “Yes... You’re to report to Dr. Hokori’s starting tomorrow... I’m sorry everyone.”

With nothing more to say, Xander left the lab, the door swinging shut after him, the click as it closed resounding through the room.

The team was silent, having no words to speak to each other as the shock of not only having their project discontinued but of having a dear friend and colleague ripped away as well sunk into them.

“How could they do this?” Elise whispered, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

Owain put a consoling hand on her shoulder, hugging her tightly when she turned into him. “Something about this just doesn’t seem right,” he muttered as Elise began to cry into his shirt.

From the distance, the sound of church bells signaling the change in the hour reached through the windows.

“6 o’clock.... we’ve been sitting here for nearly two hours...” Arthur said absentmindedly.

Standing up and shedding his lab coat, Arthur moved to the lab bench that held the presentation notes he had been looking over just 2 and a half hours before, picking them up and carelessly letting them fall into a recycling bin. Arthur turned to his team, a smile on his face that was a clear attempt at appearing fine, though his eyes betrayed his inner turmoil.

“How about we get on to dinner? We still have that reservation for tonight. It seems we should at least go and honor the death of what we have been working on.”

The other members of the team exchanged glances, worried about Arthur’s mental state, knowing that this project was his idea to begin with and as such the one most anxious about its success.

“I’ll join you, Arthur.” came Severa’s reply, her eyes sad as she played with the end of a pigtail of her long white hair.

“I will too.” Inigo said, beginning to shed his own lab coat and gathering his overcoat and briefcase.

Slowly the rest of the team also answered that they would join, realizing that they would rather mourn the outcome of the day with those who also knew their pain than go home and suffer alone.

The team gathered their belongings, shedding lab coats and donning outerwear before locking up and heading to the restaurant they had originally planned to celebrate in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way I’m rationalizing Severa’s reassignment is that both studies involve behavior and I guess neuroscience, so it’s not such a crazy reassignment as it would be if Subaki’s team was doing something like... idk antibiotic development.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should probably mention that while I said the year is 1834, technology is not according to this time period. For example, later there are pregnancy tests, certain lab equipment, telephones, radios, voice recorders, and televisions, but there are no cars, for example.
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS:  
> Abuse of the homeless/poor  
> Mentions of worker abuse  
> Mentions of abuse of power/coercion of workers

* * *

Though they attempted to make conversation, dinner was a morose affair, the team for the most part subdued and gloomy.

The time came to pay, and Brady, Owain, and Inigo insisted on splitting the bill with Arthur. The group filed out into the street, and each of them exchanged hugs with Severa, wishing her well in her new position in Subaki’s lab, their hearts heavy that their dear friend would not be working with them anymore, that their “wonder team” was being broken apart.

Owain and Elise walked off together, Inigo tagging along since they all lived in the same general direction, and Brady offered to walk Cynthia home, which she accepted with a blush.

Arthur and Severa were left standing together as they watched their friends and colleagues depart, the figures dissolving into the night as the fog engulfed their forms.

The night hung over them like a heavy blanket, thick and dark, making the mostly empty street seem quieter, the evening mist swirling around their feet.

The street lamps gave off a weak gleam, just enough to bathe the area surrounding each lamp with light, the glow just fading into nothingness when it would strengthen again, the next light in the row extending the range of the original lamp.

“Well... I guess this is it.” Severa said quietly, turning to Arthur, a sad look in her eyes. “I’ll see you around, I guess...”

“W-Wait,” Arthur called out as Severa began to walk off, turning back at his command, a questioning look on her face, “Severa... Let me walk you home.”

Severa smiled, nodding her acceptance of the offer and waited for Arthur to join her at her side before they began their walk.

The two traveled in comfortable silence, though they each were looking for something to say to the other.

“You almost got through the day without having something spilled on you.” Severa mused, breaking the silence as she looked up at Arthur, the grin on her face signifying she meant her comment in a light-hearted manner.

Arthur chuckled, also grinning as he glanced at Severa, their eyes meeting for a moment. “Well, at least it was only cold water, which was pretty lucky when you think about what else it could have been.”

“Mm, I suppose.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Severa then asked, her tone becoming serious as she spoke the question burning in her throat since Xander’s news was revealed.

Arthur sighed. “I... will be. Honestly, the full extent of the decision hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’m sort of just... in denial I suppose. It’ll probably hit me tomorrow when we begin the new projects.”

“10 years of work,” Severa sighed, “abandoned just like that, huh? I just don’t understand why... like the others have said, something about all this just doesn’t seem right.”

“I know, I agree. But without board approval, what can we do? We can’t just quit and go to a different institution, our work was funded through them and so belongs to the hospital... there’s nothing we can do.”

Severa huffed in annoyance but said nothing more on the subject.

They had just turned onto her street, and though neither would admit it, as they passed the row of terraced houses, their hearts grew heavier with each step closer to the destination. They both knew that despite the fact that they would be working in the same building, only a floor away, they would no longer see each other on a daily basis as they had for the last 10 years, and in fact, it was very likely they would not see each other much at all from now on.

Reaching the front of her home, Severa turned to face Arthur, the sad look in her eyes having returned.

“So this is it, I guess...”

Stepping into his space, Severa reached up, fixing Arthur’s shirt collar and then running her hands across his shoulders as she had done so many times in the past, the familiarity of the gesture making their hearts ache more. Arthur leaned down, wrapping his arms around Severa in a tight hug, her own arms coming around his neck. They stood there holding onto each other tightly, letting the moment stretch on just a little longer, unwilling to let the other go.

Eventually though, they did let go, their hearts falling to pieces as they broke apart.

Severa blinked back tears as they made eye contact, giving Arthur a weak smile. “I’ll miss working with you...”

Arthur’s lips turned upwards slightly, his own eyes sad as he regarded Severa. “I’ll miss you too.”

“Goodnight Arthur.”

“Goodnight.”

Severa walked up the steps to her home, looking back only once as she entered her home before the door closed and Arthur was alone in the street.

Arthur sighed as he stared at the door for a second longer, before turning and walking to his own home across town.

It just wasn’t fair. Their experiment held such promise. His team had concluded their most recent experiments with the serum not too long ago, with significant and promising results in pygmy chimpanzees. The paper they published reporting their results came out 7 months later, and now, two months after that, they had been rejected additional funding and told to abandon the project altogether.

The more that Arthur thought about it, the more it didn’t make sense. When they had published their results, there had been a flurry of excitement throughout the medical community and there had been an increase of interest in the hospital and the work it produced. Xander had kept them up-to-date about the success of their paper, and Xander had been understandably excited when he told them their paper had garnered more donors for the hospital’s psychiatry research, he himself being the chief physician of the hospital’s psychiatry department. In light of the fact that they had secured more donors for the hospital, it also just didn’t make sense if what Xander had told them today was true, that the other directors had been on board with voting for giving them the funding only a week before.

The thought that Subaki might have bribed the directors crossed Arthur’s mind, though it was quickly dismissed. Subaki didn’t seem to have any important family members, a fact that would have been bragged about and have attention drawn to at any available opportunity should that have been the case, given Subaki’s usual attitude towards his personal life.

At that moment, a man who appeared to be homeless ran past Arthur, a look of terror on his face as he sprinted down the street, disappearing into the fog. Only a second later a group of slightly drunk men ran past as well, shouting obscenities as they chased after the homeless man, taunting him for trespassing into the upper parts of town.

Arthur sneered, his face going sour as the group of wealthy drunks disappeared into the fog. _This_ was why he had started his work on the serum, to rid such evil and uncaring behavior from the hearts of Mankind. He would never understand why instead of helping the less fortunate, the rich chose instead to exploit and abuse them, intent on keeping them desperate in their poor living conditions.

His entire life he had been baffled by the behavior of the upper class. His family, though well-off, used their money to help those in need, regularly donating to the church’s initiatives to help the homeless and less fortunate, volunteering at food pantries, and even going so far as to found an orphanage for children abandoned due to poverty. 

His father’s father had been a poor man, himself abandoned by his parents when they simply couldn’t support him. He had lived on the streets of Ylisstol for a while, stealing what he could to survive until he decided to break into a wealthy man’s home with the intent to steal something to sell, only to be caught by the butler and brought to the owner of the mansion. It was pure luck that the gentleman of the home was a kind older man. The gentleman allowed Arthur’s grandfather into the home, and he was eventually adopted by the old man, as the man had no children of his own. Arthur’s grandfather never forgot his time on the street, and became a champion for the less fortunate, instilling a sense of duty to the poor in his son, and then Arthur.

As a child Arthur sought his own way of fulfilling the task his father and grandfather had placed on him. He realized as a young boy that while it was still important to help the less fortunate, the wealthy’s perception of the poor needed to be changed as well. The rich treated the poor like their playthings, or even worse as vermin, holding no importance in the world, just a stain on society as a whole. Arthur grew up watching rich business owners take advantage of their workers who needed their jobs too much to risk asking for better pay and treatment. He watched as the ladies of rich men turned their heads and played dumb as their husbands slept with their maids, those working-class women unable to say or do anything to defend themselves.

Arthur fixated on the reasons for the wealthy treating the poor as less than human, why they held such hate and malevolence in their hearts. Arthur eventually got the idea to become a scientist and study such things, and with the blessings and encouragement of his family became a doctor doing research at Ylisstol's prestigious Saint Anankos Hospital. From the moment he was appointed the head of a newly formed research team, he had dedicated his career to the study of the reasons for Mankind’s evil impulses.

He and his team had been newly minted doctors, thrown together into a research team by circumstance, their only guides being the head of the psychiatry department at the time and the training they had received during their medical education. They began their careers with preliminary research on human behavior, and before they knew it 10 years had passed.

Arthur frowned as he let himself into his home, locking the door behind him. He couldn’t let all their hard work go up in smoke like this. He had to do something, anything to keep the research going, even if he were to break protocols. Arthur was struck with the idea of testing the serum on himself, and suddenly a solution clicked.

* * *

On the other side of town, Severa was looking through the old papers the team had published over the years on the work leading up to and on the serum itself. To say she was upset about the day's events was an understatement. How could the directors abandon their project now? After so many years, what changed so quickly? Severa knew though, that no matter how upset she was, Arthur must be 100 times more upset than her. Though she was just as invested, this was Arthur’s life’s work. He had told her and the rest of the team how his entire life he dreamed of ridding the world of evil, of mending the hearts and souls of people so that no one had to suffer anymore.

That’s part of what she loved about him. Severa sighed, dropping the research papers onto her coffee table, and headed upstairs to prepare for bed. Today was the day she was going to finally confess how she felt about him. She had been keeping her feelings locked away inside for years now, knowing that the timing just wasn’t right, that their work was far too important for either of them to become distracted in the event that he felt the same, or for things to become uncomfortable for everyone should he not. But today was the day she had decided that enough was enough and that she should just tell him. She was going to use the euphoria from receiving the funding as the catalyst to make her move, but of course, that wasn’t what happened.

She supposed she would’ve been slightly more fine if she were still on her team, at least she would still be able to see and work with Arthur every day... but she had been reassigned, and to that insufferable Subaki’s team. Even though she knew she would still be in the same building, just the nature of their work would prevent her from seeing any of her old team as often, if at all anymore. Arthur’s team would be starting new research and might not be in the lab much at all, working in the hospital library if the new experiments were in the very beginning stages. And she would likely be very busy with her new work, having to obtain and settle the experiment subjects and whatever else Subaki would have the team do.

If only they could have gotten the approval and funding! Severa cursed the directors who had denied them. Damn them and their inability to see the bigger picture, damn them!

As Severa crawled into bed, she thought about breaking protocol, secretly working with her old team after-hours on volunteers they recruited themselves. If they begged help from their families they could probably pull together enough money for a few volunteers, and with results from that, they could go back to the directors and plead for their experiment to be reinstated.

_“I suppose we could just test it on ourselves and save the money.”_

Severa’s eyes shot open. Of course! They could just test it on themselves! But... Despite how much she knew that Arthur and the rest of the team wanted to see the experiment through, she doubted they would be on board with deliberately disobeying the directors. But she... She had no qualms about breaking the rules. 

The possibilities played themselves out in Severa’s mind. She could steal some of the serum, test it on herself. She could go back to Arthur and the rest of the team with the results, and from there they could go to the directors. Even if she were the only subject, the directors would _have_ to see the potential, and the team could probably get the project started up again. Arthur would no doubt be thankful to her for testing on herself, and he could request that she return to the team.

Severa could picture the look of gratitude in Arthur’s eyes, and the thought of that alone was enough to convince her, and she fell asleep easy that night, a smile on her face and a plan in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone in a research field, I understand how unlikely publishing a paper 7 months after completing research is, but please, suspend your disbelief a bit.
> 
> Also, I’m aware that Arthur’s grandfather’s story is basically Ashe from FE3H. That’s unrelated, I was typing that backstory out and by the time I realized “wait, that’s Ashe” the chapter was done.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Roughly two chapters away from the first murder.
> 
> Just want to say that in this universe college is a bit different, for doctors they just go straight into medical training. It would basically be like they went directly to med school without undergraduate schooling, learning all your basic biology and such at the med school.

* * *

“And here is the chemical storage for our lab, organized by type and alphabetized for ease of access.”

Severa resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Subaki showed her around the lab. She knew he was condescending from previous interactions, but this was just a different level of insult. He was treating her like some first-year medical student who didn’t even know what a pipette was or how to use it.

Subaki then moved them over to the fume hood, Severa clenching her jaw at the hand Subaki had placed on her lower back to guide her as though she would get lost on the way. Subaki showed her how it worked, Severa again insulted at his seeming assumption that she had never seen or used a fume hood before.

“And that’s the lab, do you have any questions?”

_“Do you think I’m some kind of idiot?”_

“None that I can think of, thank you for the tour.” Severa said, giving Subaki a tense and insincere smile.

“Now, how did you do things in your previous lab?” Subaki asked, flashing Severa a charming smile that again left her wanting to roll her eyes at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, how did you work with your team? In pairs? Alone?”

“Uh... I guess we most often worked in pairs.”

Subaki smiled again. “Excellent, then you should have no issue adjusting to our lab. We work in pairs here, and you’ll be paired with me.”

“Oh... great.” Severa said weakly, cursing her luck that she would have to spend more time than she wanted with the annoying man.

“Now then, our entire team is going to be going into town today in about 15 minutes, so make sure you’re ready to leave by then.”

“Uh, o-” 

Severa was unable to finish her thought before Subaki had already turned away, walking over to a table in an area set aside from the actual lab itself.

“-kay...”

Severa frowned. To say it would be annoying to deal with Subaki’s condescending attitude was a major understatement. Severa walked out of the lab, intent on having some time to herself before her new team’s little excursion when she was stopped by her new labmates. She wondered where they had been, as the lab had been empty of people except her and Subaki while she was given the tour.

“Hello Severa. Finished with the tour of the lab?”

“Uh, yeah... I thought it was a little unnecessary though since the lab is basically identical to my old one.”

The reaction she received from her new labmates was odd, as most of them began to smirk or snicker, only two or three of them not showing any reaction and one frowning at the others.

Severa didn’t have a chance to comment on this as the team walked into the lab, leaving her alone in the hall with one of the other members.

“That was... kind of weird.”

The labmate shook her head. “Don’t mind them, they have always been jealous of your old lab’s efficiency.”

“And you aren’t?

The labmate shook her head again. “I can’t deny that I envied your productivity, but if anything that should just encourage us to work harder. I’m Kagero, it’s nice to have you join the team.”

Severa shook the hand that Kagero offered. “Thank you... I noticed that this team already has a lot of people... If I counted correctly, including myself there are 13 people on this team.”

Kagero grimaced. “Yes, we have one of the largest teams in the hospital research branch. It’s a bit embarrassing honestly that your old team is the most productive of everyone with until now only 7 members.”

“Well we’ve worked together for forever, so we know how to work well together.”

“Our team has been together for 12 years with only 2 members having been added along the way. You’d think that would mean we would be more productive.”

Severa was silent, unsure how to answer, but Kagero just shrugged and beckoned for Severa to follow, and the two of them returned to the lab to prepare for departure into the city.

* * *

The research team opted to walk to their destination, not wanting to waste time waiting for taxi carriages to come by and pick all of them up. Subaki had insisted that Severa walk with him, so she reluctantly followed along, walking to the left and just slightly behind Subaki.

“Um, Subaki, why are we here at the animal control center?” Severa asked as they entered the building, the sounds of barking and howling filling their ears.

Subaki smiled at her, though the look was one that a person might give a child who asked a question with an obvious answer.

“Severa, the next stage of our experiment is on dogs, so naturally we need the dogs to do work on.”

“Wait, we’re getting the test subjects from _here?_ Doesn’t the hospital have an animal facility specifically for obtaining animal subjects?”

Subaki again gave Severa what she was calling the “simple child grin”. “The hospital does have an animal facility, but this way is actually cheaper for us since the hospital deducts a fee for each animal from our funding. With these animals, we just have to pay a small amount for transportation to the lab, which is much less than the hospital animal fee.”

Subaki then turned to address the other scientists. “Alright all, you know what we’re here for. No particular criteria for choosing, but we would like a mix of temperaments, and we have room for 25 dogs, so keep that in mind. Alright then, get to it!”

Having received their orders, the members of the research team dispersed, going through each kennel, looking at the behavior and demographic reports.

Subaki turned to speak to one of the animal control officers, not paying any mind to the rest of them. Severa rolled her eyes but began searching for an acceptable subject.

Severa’s gaze moved through the kennels not already being inspected when her eyes fell on one dog in particular.

A long-haired dog with black fur and pointed ears caught her eye. The dog was quiet, not barking and howling like the rest of them, but rather lying down and resting its head on its front paws. Its eyes looked dull, and it wasn’t moving at all, instead staring straight ahead, though its stare seemed to be unfocused. There was no word to describe the dog other than depressed. 

Severa approached the kennel, and the dog perked up at her approach, its tail wagging when she picked up the dog’s report.

_“Breed: Ylissean Shepherd, confirmed by previous owner_

_Sex: Male_

_Age: 1 year 5 months (DOB Jan 1833)_

_Temperament: Active, Intelligent, Aggressive?_

_Situation: Owner surrender; attacked husband, wife claims dog was protecting her, husband claims this to be untrue.”_

“Aw, you poor thing. You were just protecting your loved one, huh?”

The dog’s tail began wagging slightly harder, its eyes looking brighter at being addressed.

One of the animal control officers was walking through the kennels, assisting the researchers when they came upon Severa. “Huh, that’s the first time I’ve seen that dog respond to anyone.”

Severa looked up at the worker. “Is that so?... Hm... Can you mark this one for us?”

The worker nodded and smiled, taking a marker out and making a big mark over the report, signifying that the dog would be transferred over to the hospital later. “Seems like that’s dog 25 for you all. I’ll let the chief know.”

The animal control officer walked off, alerting the rest of the researchers on their way to the front that 25 dogs had been chosen. The researchers followed the worker, leaving Severa alone in the kennels.

Severa turned to the dog, kneeling down as it sat up, pawing at the kennel gate. 

“Looks like you’re gonna come with us, buddy. I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you soon, okay?”

The dog barked, seemingly understanding it would see her again when it didn’t whine as Severa left.

Severa returned to the front, falling into place near Subaki when he called her over, and the team began the trek back to the hospital.

* * *

It was late in the evening, and Arthur was the last one in the lab, the rest of his team having left for the day. Emotionally the day was hard for them, as they spent most of the morning packing up their research notebooks, filing them away just in case they had the chance to return to that line of work. The vials of serum had been put away in the chemical storage fridge, the team unwilling to simply pour it down the chemical disposal drain.

Arthur was sitting at a table in the portion of the lab for blackboard work, looking over the published papers from the serum experiment. While his mind was made up as to what he would do at home later that night, he couldn’t help but worry, so he was going over the papers one last time in an effort to assuage any fears and reservations he might have.

A knock at the door broke him from his reading, and he looked up at the time, shocked to find it was nearly 11 pm. Arthur got up, stretching for a moment before going to let the visitor in, wondering who it could be that hour.

“Severa?”

Severa was standing at the door, a bottle for chemicals in her hand.

“Hey Arthur, I was just wondering if I could get some ethanol? Our lab is out of 200 proof.”

“Oh, sure,” Arthur responded, moving to let Severa in. “You know where it is, so go ahead and take what you need.” 

Severa smiled as she entered the lab, heading back into the chemical storage area, Arthur returning to his seat.

Severa was quick, and returned shortly thereafter, thanking Arthur for the ethanol.

“You’re welcome. By the way, how was your first day in Subaki’s lab?”

Arthur grinned as Severa made a disgusted face.

“Ugh, I thought he was condescending before, but working with him is just awful! He speaks to me as though I’ve never worked in a lab before, and every time I say something he gives me this stupid smile as though I’m speaking nonsense.”

“That’s... does he do that with all the women in his lab?”

“Not even just the women! Some of the men he treats as though they’re stupid as well, he just treats everyone as though we’re less than him. It’s obnoxious, and he’s made me his lab partner. I’m gonna lose years off my life working with him.”

“Yikes, I’m sorry to hear that...”

“Thank you. Well, it’s getting late, I need to get done making some dilutions before going home. Don’t stay here too late.”

Arthur responded he wouldn’t and that he was just about to leave, and Severa smiled with relief before she walked out the door, leaving Arthur with a renewed sense of determination to test the serum on himself, if only so that he could get the project started again and hopefully have Severa return to the team.

* * *

Severa returned to her lab, putting the labeled bottle of ethanol in the chemical storage room, next to all the dilutions of ethanol that they already had.

Severa pulled from her pants pocket 2 of the vials of the morality serum, and carefully wrapped them in a clean rag before placing them into her purse. Severa then went around the lab collecting the things she would need, bandage wraps and alcohol wipes, a pair of syringes, and the smallest sharps container she could find and placed the materials into her purse.

Satisfied that she had everything she would need, Severa turned the lights off and locked up the lab, heading home to perform the only experiment she cared about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "Ylissean Shepherd" is based on the Belgian Shepherd, just for reference.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will feature both Severa and Arthur’s POV at the same time during part of the chapter. The “monologue” switches back and forth, but there’s no real assignment of who says what, just that each line is the other one speaking.
> 
> As a reminder, this is not supposed to be related to DID. After reading the Wikipedia plot synopsis of the original book, I realized that I relate pretty strongly with Jekyll/Hyde, in terms of mania and manic episodes. This originally was also just a way for me to talk about my own experiences with bipolar disorder and other experiences associated with that anyway and after reading the wiki, this story is definitely meant to channel my experiences with bipolar disorder in relation to the original novella. I may talk more about this in later notes, either at the beginning of chapters or the end.
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS  
> Description of Syringe Usage  
> Christian/Catholic Biblical Allusions

* * *

On a certain night in Ylisstol, when the waxing moon was shining bright in the inky black sky, watching over the city as though an amused but distant guest at a circus, there were two scientists, a man and a woman, each heading in opposite directions towards their homes, intent on breaking the rules of their place of employment.

They each got to the entrance of their homes, unlocking the door and letting themselves in, their movements quick as they shed their coats, throwing them carelessly over chairs. 

The man and woman each got a glass of water from their kitchens and tossed back the liquid, attempting to calm their nerves. They then moved to retrieve their bags from the floor of their foyers. Both checked the time.

11:50 pm.

Though not under any time constraints, the two scientists grabbed a tray from their kitchens, then reached into their work bags, pulling out syringes, a sharps container, bandage wraps and alcohol wipes, a tape recorder, and two vials of a particular serum, a serum they had spent their entire careers on, a serum that held untold possibilities.

Each moved to their bedroom with their loaded tray, their rooms being the perfect spot for self-observation purposes as both had a full-length mirror there, the man’s hanging from his bedroom door, and the woman’s standing next to her closet.

The scientists placed their trays on their beds, preparing their arms with the alcohol wipes then breaking open a syringe package and twisting the cap of one of the vials off, pulling the plunger of the syringe back, the liquid following it as it seeped into the barrel. The serum was a dark, almost blood red, the light of their rooms reflecting off of it and causing the color to shift between pure black and deep burgundy. The scientists turned on their tape recorders, the cassettes turning as they began to record.

“The time is 11:54 pm-”

“-On May the 18th, 1834. The serum-”

“-which we refer to as formula D-639-”

“-will be injected into the left bicep, and the observations for immediate reactions will be recorded here.”

The scientists each picked up and raised the syringe to their arms, puncturing their skin as the needle went in, depressing the plunger and watching as the blood-red serum slowly sunk into their arms.

“1 milliliter of serum has now been administered. Immediate reaction-”

“-is a warmth at the site of injection, in addition to a tingling sensation. The warmth and tingle-”

“-from the injection site seems to be traveling-”

“-up the arm, settling at the base of the head, around the area of the C1-C2 vertebrae-”

“-which after about 5 seconds has dissipated. No noticeable changes in vision or bodily awareness. Hang on-”

“-I feel a rush of what can only be described as elation, a sort of sense of awakening from a long, restful sleep-”

At that moment both of the scientists cried out, clutching their heads.

“ _AH_ _!_ P-pain, intense pain in the head-”

“-as though my mind is being ripped apart-”

“-c-can’t breathe, heart palpitating-”

The words of the scientists cut off, instead letting out screams, long, dreadful, terrible screams. The sound could only be described as something one might hear from the souls of the damned, suffering their eternal torture in the fiery pits of Hell.

The screaming was reminiscent of the screaming of an animal, death looming over it as it was caught in the jaws of a predator, letting out its last cries for mercy, unheard by whatever deity might have been watching over it as the predator ripped into the body of its prey.

The screams of both scientists could only express a fraction of the pain and terror they felt. It was as though clawed hands were ripping through their consciousness, their soul, clambering up from the deepest, darkest pits of the earth and feeding on everything in them that stood in the way of coming up. The dark influence scratched and bit, leaking into the wounds left behind, slowly taking over the minds of the fools who had unleashed it.

As both scientists fell to the floor, unable to stay standing as pain wracked their bodies, a strange thing began to happen. The man’s hair began to change color, streaks of darkness blooming from his head until what had originally been blonde was coal black. A similar thing happened in the woman, her snow-white hair giving way to a deep, rich crimson.

The screams gave way to maniacal laughter, the laughter of the unhinged, the laughter of devils long-dormant awakening from a deep slumber.

Slowly, the beasts rose to their feet, assessing themselves in the mirrors in front of them. The man-beast oozed confidence, his deep-blue eyes now a lighter, icy hue brimming with charm, though there was an arrogance and danger lurking at the edges. The woman-beast had a playful, flirty smile on her face, her once light-brown eyes now almost orange, teasing would-be viewers with an invitation of devilish fun, though behind it lurked a malevolent aura, as though a trap waiting to snap close on any who were tempted to reach for the false treasures offered.

As the toll of church bells from the cathedral signaled that midnight had fallen on the city, the newly awakened beasts took a deep breath, grinning wickedly as they felt the air enter and leave their lungs.

_“...I’m_ **_FREE_ ** _..._ **_”_ **

* * *

Under the cover of night, in the heavy, swirling fog, the only light coming from the dull shine of street lamps and the distant glow of the moon, two beings stalked the streets, reveling in the feeling of absolute _freedom_. The euphoria of the feeling of the night air brushing against their skin, the sounds and smells of the night filling their senses, egged them on further and further into the darkness. 

The two souls wandered the streets, with no real purpose other than to be _alive_. A dark desire flowed through their veins, a seductive, intoxicating feeling of malice pulsing through their bodies. The sinful urges that lurked in their hearts came forward in this moment of primal existence, feelings more fitting to be associated with some wild predatory creature than a human.

They each passed through the town, closer and closer to the piers and docks until they crossed the invisible boundary that divided the city during the day.

Slowly the two came across more life, people trying to either survive the night or have their wicked fun with the denizens of poverty and misery.

The Devil taking a man’s form made his way leisurely down the streets and alleys, a swagger in his step and confidence in his gaze that made any who crossed his path pause, the men intimidated and the women intrigued by the raw power that was emanating from him.

In another section of that depraved part of the city, the woman, now Lilith incarnate, strutted down the walkways, tossing her hair and sending flirtatious winks to the men hanging around the brothels and taverns, just enough propriety in her posture that the night-time philanderers didn’t follow along, instead keeping company of the women who would actually accept their advances, though that didn’t stop their lecherous gazes from finding her backside, suggestive whistles dogging her step.

The woman laughed, a light, enticing sound filling the air when one of the degenerates called after her, inviting her for a “good time”, an offer which she ignored, tossing her hair again as she rounded the corner of the street, only to get knocked off her feet as she collided with a rather tall and sturdy man.

“My apologies miss. Here, let me help you up.”

The woman looked up, burnt orange eyes meeting icy blue, an animal magnetism drawing her in when she placed her hand in the man’s.

The man gave the woman a charming smile, a shadow of something darker at the corners of his mouth, while the woman returned the smile with one of her own, coquettish in nature as her eyes trailed up the man’s body.

“Thank you for your assistance sir.”

The man chuckled, “Of course miss, it’s my pleasure.”

The woman stepped closer to the man, one arm coming up to cross under her chest, the other bringing a loose fist to her face, resting her chin on it as she spoke again.

“And just who am I speaking to, if I may ask?”

The man smirked, taking the woman’s hand from under her chin and bringing it up as he leaned down to kiss the back of it. 

“Harold, miss... Harold Denaboir, at your service. And you are?”

“Lockhart, sir. Selena Lockhart.”

“Well, Miss Lockhart,” Harold crooned, his eyes tracing over her body as though imagining undressing her, his gaze lingering on her curves, “What’s a beautiful, charming young woman like yourself doing walking these streets alone?... Little lambs like yourself are in danger of getting _snatched up_ by big, bad wolves.”

Selena moved closer still, not quite touching as she looked up at Harold through her eyelashes, a tempting, flirty smirk on her face as she responded, her voice taking on a seductive purr.

“Well, I think I can... _handle_ whatever comes my way. Besides, big bad wolf types are rather... _exciting_ , don’t you think sir?”

Before Harold could make another comment, Selena sidestepped him, her arm brushing against his as she passed.

“I must be going now, but it was a _pleasure_ to meet you Mister Denaboir.”

With a last glance and wink over her shoulder, Selena walked off, Harold’s gaze never leaving her until she turned the corner.

The moon hung cold and distant in the sky as the two wandered back to their places of origin, slipping through the doors and relinquishing control over the bodies, the forms of the scientists returning as they fell into their beds. As the city slept, unbeknownst to those both poor and rich, that night an evil beyond anything they could have fathomed had been awakened, and it was only a matter of time before Death rode in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a note, I wanted to point out that the “Harold” character is obviously supposed to be the opposite of Arthur’s canon depiction. He’s not unlucky at all/totally evil and unjust, and while I do sorta picture Arthur as a charming person, I don't see him as being... explicitly sexual and arrogant. Harold is supposed to characterized like this, and in fact, he’s supposed to be rather “debonair” which coincidentally is how I got the last name for him, I just switched the letters around in debonair to get “Denaboir”.
> 
> Also just in case you missed it, the serum name, "D-639" could be thought of to us as "Devil-666".


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now... it’s... M U R D E R T I M E!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> I’m just glad I’ve taken an anatomy class, referencing my textbook was really helpful in writing this scene.
> 
> As a reminder, this is not supposed to be related to DID. This is more just my experiences with bipolar disorder and full-blown manic episodes.
> 
> Also, while Naga in this AU is “God”, in this I’m making her opposite be Grima (I mean I kinda think he is anyway?), and so he is supposed to invoke the idea of “Satan”. In addition, I am not Catholic, so I don’t exactly know anything about confessional boxes except what I’ve seen in pictures and movies. I also don’t mean any disrespect to the Church in this chapter or in the story in general.
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS  
> Graphic Description of Murder  
> Implied Adultery  
> Implied Sexual Content  
> Brief Description of Emotions Regarding Violence  
> Disrespect Towards Corpses  
> Disrespect Towards Holy Buildings

* * *

While it was a Saturday and thus he was not required to show up at the lab, Arthur had decided to do so anyway, needing something to do to keep his mind off the events of two nights before.

The experience had been, to put it lightly, terrifying. After the pain had subsided, he had found himself to be a prisoner in his own body, paralyzed as he was piloted by what seemed to be another being. He had been able to sense everything that the other had sensed, felt everything that the other felt. But perhaps the most terrifying thing was, it wasn’t _truly_ another entity inhabiting his body. It was more like his most base desires and instincts had come out from the depths of his soul, overriding his general sense of decency. It shook Arthur to think he had been harboring such feelings inside of him. After that night, when he woke the next morning exhausted but needing to show up for work, Arthur vowed to not use the serum again. 

Ideally, he would have liked to go back to the chimpanzee experiments, alter the serum, but without the funding to do so he was at a dead end, and with reluctance accepted that the experiment was well and truly over.

He had left his briefcase behind at the lab with the intention of returning early the next morning, but he had left unusually late for a Saturday, the time nearly 11:30 pm as he walked home, the evening fog having rolled in hours before. As he did twice a day on his way to and from work, Arthur was passing the Ylisstol abbey for the Church of Naga, the largest of all of Naga’s places of worship in the country. He was walking down the street that ran the length of the church when he heard a sound, and he slowed, stopping when he couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. The fog around him that night was particularly thick, and the sound was difficult to pin down. Taking a few more paces forward, his head swinging around to pinpoint the location, Arthur again stopped as the sound became clearer.

The sound was in fact a combination of two noises, one a series of low grunts and groans, the other a higher-pitched cadence of moans and soft cries.

Arthur’s face flushed when he realized what he was hearing. At that moment the high-pitched cries began coming more frequently before suddenly stopping with a particularly loud groan filling the air.

Arthur was frozen in place as he tried to rationalize what he was hearing. Surely it wasn’t...? 

Suddenly, there was a door opening ahead of him, and Arthur could make out a man stepping into the street from the outdoor confessional box. The man, who Arthur was able to recognize as one of his neighbors, was adjusting his pants as he walked off in the direction Arthur had been heading. 

Arthur watched his neighbor’s form disappear into the fog, unable to believe his eyes and ears despite there not being any other reasonable explanation for what he had stumbled across.

The confessional box opened again, and a priestess stepped out, adjusting her robes before also heading in the same direction as the man. The color and style of the priestess’s robes, as well as the salmon-colored hair gave away her identity as the Bishop of the Ylisstol Church of Naga, none other than Princess Sakura.

It was at that moment that Arthur recalled a rumor about the church. Specifically, the rumor spoke about a specific priestess, and the confessional box she would use to receive “confessions”. The rumor said that when in the box with that priestess, if a man were to use a specific phrase, the priestess would instruct him to remove a board from the box, doing the same on her side and revealing a hole in the panel separating parishioner from priestess. From there, the priestess and the man would engage in sexual acts through the hole, at no cost other than the gained satisfaction of screwing a woman of Naga.

The whole rumor reeked of blasphemy, the very idea that one of the church’s own would desecrate its holy structures, profaning one of the very tenants it held sacred, was absolutely absurd.

Arthur had never been interested in finding out if this rumor was true, in fact he thought it was a rather silly one at that, so he had pushed it from his mind, but here was evidence on the matter, that there _was_ in fact a priestess servicing men sexually in the confessional box, and that priestess just happened to be a Bishop of the Church.

A wave of anger from deep inside washed over Arthur, nearly staggering him in its intensity. Memories of radio and television broadcasts, of newspaper articles where the Bishop would publicly and vehemently denounce adultery and sexual relations out of wedlock flooded his mind, a chant of _“hypocrite”_ echoing in his head. How _dare_ the bishop condemn adultery and cast judgment on those who conducted extramarital affairs, how _dare_ she lament the situation of cheated wives, how _dare_ she play as marriage counselor when _she herself_ was in fact contributing to the problem?!

The anger Arthur felt surged in him again, and his vision blacked out as a pain similar to the one from two nights before filled his being, hunching him over as it clawed at his mind and soul. He was barely able to cry out before succumbing to the force as his hair once again turned black, irises turning icy blue behind closed eyelids, and then the body stood to its full height. 

The eyes of the body opened as a sinister smirk broke out on the face, and if anyone had been present they would have sworn it was the smile of the Fell Dragon, Grima himself, in human form.

Harold Denaboir began a brisk pace towards the front of the church, and it was just his luck that the Bishop was sweeping the steps of the cathedral, the very picture of innocence, despite the essence of a married man no doubt dripping down her thighs.

“Excuse me, Lady Sakura, I can see you’re busy, but do you have a moment?”

Sakura looked up from her task, smiling when she made eye contact with him, her face and expression seeming chaste and pure.

“Of course, what can I do for you?”

Harold stepped closer to the Bishop, a hand reaching into his pants pocket, toying with the handkerchief there.

“I was wondering, if it’s not too much trouble, if you could take the confession of a tormented soul?”

“Oh, of course! Follow me, there is a confessional box just down the way.”

Sakura started in the direction of her booth of sin, but just as she moved past him, Harold’s hands shot out, one going to cover her mouth, the other pulling her into him, keeping her still as she struggled, attempting to kick and scream.

Harold chuckled, enjoying the terror coming off of Sakura in waves.

“Tut tut, poor little Princess Sakura,” Harold drawled, grinning when she again tried to jerk out of his grasp, “are you praying to your precious Naga for help? Begging to be rescued? Well, that’s really _too bad_ , I don’t think She would take pity and save a little _whore_ of a priestess like _you_.”

Harold let his arm against Sakura’s torso fall away, pressing the hand against her mouth down harder so that her head was stuck against his chest as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief. Moving quickly, Harold pulled Sakura to the ground as he knelt, Sakura letting out a muffled cry as she hit the stone of the cathedral steps. Harold removed his hand from Sakura’s mouth, but before she could take a breath and scream, Harold stuffed the handkerchief from his pocket into her mouth, silencing her as his hands moved to grab her neck.

“Such a shame, dear, _precious_ Sakura... if only you practiced what you preached.”

Harold grinned again, and Sakura was able to witness the unadulterated evil that was there, her bladder releasing in her terror.

Harold drank in the horror and panic in her eyes before maneuvering himself behind Sakura, adjusting the grip on her throat. With a chuckle, one of his arms circled in front of her head and his hand gripped at her ear and hair, and without hesitating once, began to twist.

Harold grinned as he forced her head as far as it would naturally go, Sakura screaming harder against the cloth in her mouth as she kicked and threw her weight as much as possible to get loose, but to no avail. Harold sighed, the sound not of regret, but rather of anticipated delight, and began to pull the head in his grip further.

Naturally there was resistance, and Harold squeezed the throat of his victim harder, and under his grip the hyoid bone and soft tissues of the neck were crushed and the cervical vertebrae began to splinter. Bruises blossomed instantly as blood vessels were ruptured, and the skin of Sakura’s neck quickly became a splotched mix of black and blue. Slowly the neck began to give way, and Harold felt a slow trickle of sadistic joy running through him as he felt the cracking of bones under his hand, muscles and ligaments popping as they separated from their points of connection.

The sick pleasure kept building, savored as Sakura’s head was slowly twisted around, and Harold again chuckled when the spinal cord was severed, Sakura’s body falling limp. The violence continued though, bones and tissues continuing to be crushed and muscles being torn apart completely, the skin finally breaking as it stretched beyond its limits, spilling still warm blood through the devil’s fingers and down into the robes of the now-dead Bishop as her head was twisted around 360 degrees.

With the muscle and bone connections split, Harold ripped the head away from the little remaining flesh that held it to the body, blood now oozing from the remains of the neck and onto the cathedral steps as it was carelessly dropped.

Harold held up the dripping, torn-off head, regarding with glee the empty and glazed-over eyes, admiring the tears tracked down the cheeks, before pulling the handkerchief out of the mouth and tossing the head aside, delighting in the crack that sounded as it hit the ground.

Looking over the slaughter that had occurred by his own hands, Harold smirked. He reveled in the feelings coursing through his body, the adrenaline and primal _ecstasy_. It really was a shame that under normal circumstances such desires were repressed and shunned, and for what? To be an “upstanding member of society”? Harold laughed at the idea, a haunting echo reverberating through the area, the sound manic and depraved.

Wiping his hands on the handkerchief of whatever blood that wasn’t already dried on his fingers, Harold took one last look at the scene before walking off, whistling a tune as he headed home and away from the carnage he had left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, actually this wasn’t as graphic as I envisioned it, but at the same time I’m trying to go for realism, so I tried to describe the murder as accurately as I assume it would be if something like this actually happened. 
> 
> As a note, I chose to say that the blood “spilled” rather than “spurted” when the skin of Sakura’s neck tears open because since the spinal cord was already severed, her heart would have stopped beating, and as such, I don’t think blood would spurt or otherwise spray out, since the heart is not pumping. If I had Harold say, slice her carotid artery open, THEN there would definitely be spraying and spurting because she would at that point still be alive and the heart would be pumping the blood up, and it would spray out of the wound in time with the heart beating.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I was reviewing the scenes I have planned, this story may not be as graphic as I envisioned it would be. I honestly can’t tell. If anyone is actually reading this I would love a comment on your opinion of this story, as far as the violence goes. Or really an opinion on any part of the story would be appreciated, I love comments.
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS  
> Over-the-Counter Drug Use/Abuse  
> Mentions of Past Criminal Behavior  
> Self-Doubt in Fundamentals of Self

* * *

Arthur spent all of Sunday passed out with the help of various sleep aide syrups, horrified by what he had done and trying to avoid the media coverage of the discovery of Sakura’s body and the initial speculation regarding her massacre. 

In the brief moments he was awake and lucid he was tormented by the visions of what had transpired and the feelings he had felt during the act. On top of being deeply disturbed by his actions, he was alarmed that he had changed into that... monster without the use of the serum. The fact that the change could be triggered by extreme emotions was troubling, especially when the anger he had felt before the change was more an amplified reaction to what he had witnessed. It came  _ from _ him, and yet the extent of it was  _ not _ of him. It was...confusing. Confounding. But whatever the case was, Arthur knew he had to figure out a way to prevent the change from ever occurring again.

The next morning Arthur quickly made his way to work, avoiding the police forces around the church and firmly avoiding looking at the cathedral steps, still stained with the dried blood of the Bishop.

Though a workday, it was still rather early in the morning, earlier than when Arthur would usually head to the research facility, but he was desperate for the familiarity of the lab, for the comfort found in the loss of time when he got absorbed in his work.

Arthur made his way up the stairs of the hospital research center and down the hall of his lab’s floor, lost in his feelings of distress when he came across Brady, attempting to pick the lock on the lab door.

“... Brady? What... What are you doing?”

Brady didn’t look up from what he was doing, too focused on getting the lock open, though he did sound a greeting to Arthur.

Arthur tried again. “Brady? Is there a reason you’re trying to pick the lock to the lab?”

Brady stopped this time, sighing before he turned his gaze on Arthur.

“I forgot my key to the lab at home,” Brady explained, turning back to the lock and resuming his attempt, “An’ even though I don’t really need to anymore, it’s good to keep my skills sharp.”

“Your... skills?”

“One second... there.”

The lock clicked and Brady stood, putting his lock picking kit in his briefcase and opening and holding the door open for Arthur, a proud and triumphant grin on his face.

Arthur stared at Brady, a mix of shock and confusion marring his features. The grin on Brady’s face slipped off, replaced by a frown. “Well ya gonna go in or what?”

Arthur blinked, and silently entered the lab, Brady following behind.

The two went into the blackboard area of the lab, shedding their outer coats and putting their things down before moving to the articles and books involving their new research topics.

Arthur was still in a state of shock, but as he watched Brady, the other man didn’t seem to be acting differently at all. 

Brady finally sighed, and looked up at Arthur, having sensed his stare. A look of exasperation was on Brady’s face, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Ya got sumthin’ to say to me?”

“I’m just... Why do you know how to pick locks? And why do you have a lockpicking kit in your briefcase?”

Brady rolled his eyes. “I always have my kit on me. And is this really the first time you’ve seen me do that? I’m pretty sure everyone else knows that I can.”

“... Yes, this is the first time I’ve witnessed your uh... talent.”

“Yeah I can pick locks, so what? It’s a useful skill that I would like ta not forget... And it’s not like I break into homes and stores anymore.”

“Anymore?!”

“Yeah, not anymore... Is this really the first time we’re talkin’ ‘bout this?”

“Brady what is going on.”

Brady sighed, throwing his hands in the air before he leaned back in his chair, again crossing his arms over his chest.

“When I was younger, even though I had everything I coulda wanted, I sorta took to thievery. Pickpocketing, breaking and enterin’, stealing. Nothin’ more serious than that, an’ I never took anything really important. It was fun, and I was good at it. Eventually though my old man caught me comin’ home one night with my haul. I thought I was done for, I thought for sure he would drag me off to the police, or worse yet, my Ma. But instead he sat me down and set me straight. Turns out he was a right proper criminal in his youth, but then he met Ma and turned his life around. Said he didn’t want me gettin’ mixed up in the wrong crowd like he did, said there was no guarantee that I would be as lucky and manage to get out of the business if I really got into it. Honestly, I owe it to him that I turned out okay, ‘cause even though Ma tried to instill good sense into me, it was Dad who kept me on the straight an’ narrow.”

Arthur was silent, unable to think of anything to say. Brady’s face flushed, and he looked away, embarrassed.

“Say what ya will, I know you’re all about goodness an’ justice, but like I said, I don’t do that stuff anymore, the only thing I still do is lockpicking. It’s just a skill, and there’s nothin’ wrong with openin’ doors I’m meant to go into anyway-”

“Brady,” Arthur cut off, “Don’t misunderstand. As long as you aren’t currently engaging in criminal behavior, I can’t say anything against you. As you said, it’s just a skill, lockpicking isn’t inherently good or bad... I’m glad you didn’t go down a bad path though, otherwise we would have never met. You’re a good man, and even if your father used to... be a criminal, if what you say is true, then he must have had some good in him to reform and keep you from becoming a criminal yourself.”

Brady looked back at Arthur, grinning slightly, relieved that Arthur wasn’t upset or disgusted by him.

“Yeah well, it goes without sayin’, but I’m glad I didn’t become a criminal too. Honestly the work we do here is interesting and excitin’, and I feel like I’m actually contributing to society... and I’m glad I met ya too. You’re a real good man, everything a person should strive ta be.”

Arthur smiled at Brady’s words, but inside it was like a punch to the gut. If Brady knew what he had done... the image his colleague had of him would be shattered forever. 

Brady seemed to be unaware of Arthur’s inner turmoil, turning to the door and greeting Cynthia as she entered the lab.

Arthur greeted Cynthia as well but tuned out her and Brady’s ensuing conversation as he got lost in his thoughts.

Even though his own grandfather had resorted to stealing in his youth, Arthur still had never liked the idea of taking things that belonged to someone else, things that might hold importance to the owner. It was a sin he considered particularly bad in his boyhood days, but now that he was older, now that he had committed a sin that was the worst of them all... stealing didn’t seem quite as bad as before. 

Arthur had always considered all vices and evils the same, and all virtues and good the same, a strictly black and white dichotomy that had no shades of grey. But now Arthur realized that there  _ were _ degrees to each. On top of that, it occurred to Arthur, albeit just then and far later than he probably should have realized, that sometimes evil could be done for good, such as a man stealing to feed his family, and sometimes good could be done for evil, such as charity done to create a false image of righteousness. It was a simple realization, but Arthur had always been so sure of himself and his beliefs that it never occurred to him to examine them.

What were his own reasons for doing what he considered right? Did he act a certain way simply because it was morally correct? Or did he only act because it was expected, trying to create an image that in light of recent events might be just that, an image, an illusion. 

What about his life’s work? His morality serum? Did he start it truly from the goodness in his heart, for no other reason but to eradicate evil from Mankind? Or was it because he believed that he was the most righteous and good of all, that he was meant to save humanity, acting on some sort of God or savior complex?

As the other members of his team came in, Arthur felt his confidence and belief in himself shatter, no longer certain of anything anymore.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was rereading what I put out for this and it occurred to me that calling the dog Severa chose a “Belgian Sheepdog” is sorta out of place in this story, so I went back and changed the breed to “Ylissean Shepherd”. It is still based on the IRL Belgian Sheepdog though. Also, I’m a cheat in that I used one of the names of one of the Four Saints from FE3H as the name for the dog.
> 
> As a note for the science-y stuff, I keep saying “lab bench” (because that’s what I’ve always heard them called) but in case you don’t know, a lab bench is basically just the table/surface you do lab work on.
> 
> Also, this chapter is a bit long and sorta takes awhile to get to the point, just fyi.
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS  
> Mentions of Abuse/Prejudice Towards People in a Lower Living Class  
> Implied Domestic Abuse  
> Undervaluing/Disregarding Animal (Dog) Life  
> Graphic Description of Killing an Animal (Dog)  
> Description of Dead Animal Remains

* * *

It had been a week since the shocking murder of Princess Sakura of Hoshido, Bishop of the Ylisstol Church of Naga. The city had awoken that Sunday morning ready to head to church and be charmed and enchanted by the Bishop’s sermon, only to find her head removed from her body, blood spilled across and down the steps of the cathedral. The panic and horror felt was instantaneous, and to say that people were alarmed that someone capable of that level of violence lived among them was an understatement.

As Lady Sakura’s older sister, Lady Hinoka, Chief of the Ylisstol Police Force, publically swore that she would track down the killer and that when found there would be extreme consequences.

Though everyone was deeply disturbed by the slaughter, the upper-class of the city in their paranoia became even more cruel and hostile to the poor, their beliefs that the less fortunate were also less human really taking root in their hearts. In particular, at night in the seedier parts of town when the rich went to play, violence towards the citizens who lived there increased, though the police force did not respond to questions about any actions they were taking against it.

Severa had seen the initial reports, and the eventual release of the exact circumstances of death, the police chief apparently wanting to further shock the populace in what could only be assumed to be an effort to cultivate the disgust and fear to encourage reports for leads on the killer.

She had called her parents after reading the report, her father having been the coroner to examine the body and determine the extent of the brutality. Her parents had ragged on her about not calling more often, and though the situation was serious and no laughing matter, her father had joked that there needed to be more gruesome deaths if it meant she would call more often.

Severa had rolled her eyes at that comment, her father had always been rather macabre in nature, but she had promised to call more often. She had told them of the abandonment of her team’s 10 years of work, and the fact that she had been reassigned to another lab. She told them about the detestable behavior of her new team leader, and while they were distressed to hear about the poor treatment of her, they also suggested the possibility that the team leader was engaging in some sort of misguided attempt at wooing her.

At the time, Severa had scoffed, but the more she thought about it and Subaki’s general behavior and personality, and the more she interacted with him, the more her parents' words made sense.

Once she had made that realization, she dreaded every interaction she had with Subaki.

“Severa, it’s about time for the dogs to get their exercise, just leave that to me.”

Severa’s jaw clenched at Subaki’s command. She had been holding a bottle of one of the scents the lab had synthesized, originally intending on transferring it to the diffusion pods for experimentation. It wasn’t a hard task at all, in fact all she would have had to do was pour some of the solution into a separate working container, then use a pipette to transfer it into the pods. Not difficult at all, in fact incredibly underwhelming and rather boring work, but Subaki seemed to not want her touching or doing anything important.

Putting the bottle of the scent solution on a lab bench as gently as she could manage despite her irritation, Severa turned and went into the area of the lab where they kept the dogs. The kennels were bigger than what they had been at the animal control center, but still rather small for keeping a dog in at all times.

While she really wanted to put her skills and knowledge in the lab to actual use, she did enjoy spending time with the dogs, partly because Subaki seemed to not want anything to do with them and left her alone when she was with them.

Subaki had told the team to not give the dogs names, to refer to them strictly by their experiment tags, but Severa didn’t care enough about what he said to actually follow his directions. She was pretty sure that if the way he treated her continued, she would never be doing anything where calling the dogs by actual names would actually influence her judgment on anything relating to the experiment itself.

Making her way through the rows of cages, Severa stopped in front of the kennel that held the Ylissean Shepherd. Though it had simply been moved from one cage to another, the dog was much more alert than it was when she first encountered it.

“Hello Indech,” Severa greeted, smiling at the dog’s excited behavior, “Ready for a walk?”

Indech barked, his tail wagging harder in response to Severa’s question, smart enough that he was able to understand the word “walk”. Severa chuckled and took his lead from the hook next to the kennel’s gate.

Indech was patient as Severa attached the lead to the collar he was wearing and led him out of the lab.

The pair made their way out of the hospital research building, taking in the sights, sounds, and scents of the city.

Severa smiled at the pure bliss Indech was displaying, happy that he was enjoying himself. This was how people should behave as well, she reflected, taking pleasure in the simple things, being kind to others, and just minding their own business. She wished people would just enjoy their lives and not make it harder for others to survive. 

Severa and Indech made their way around the hospital and some of the surrounding areas, before heading back to the lab. Severa had just led them back to the lab’s floor when one of the board directors stepped out of the lab, speaking with Subaki.

Indech’s behavior suddenly changed. He went from relaxed to alert, his tail held low and still, and his ears perked forward. Severa noticed the change immediately and stopped some ways away, waiting for Subaki and the director, who was the Valla attorney Corrin, to stop talking.

Subaki and Corrin of course noticed Severa, and approached her, not paying any attention to Indech, who had started growling softly, alarming Severa.

“Hello, Severa, right?” Corrin greeted, ignoring the dog at her side. “How do you like working in Dr. Hokori’s lab? Much better than Mahoney’s, right?”

“Uh... sure.” Severa replied, too busy focusing on Indech’s sudden aggression to give a good answer.

At that moment Indech barked, ending in a snarl. Corrin and Subaki looked down at him, and Corrin’s eyes widened.

“Dr. Hokori... Did you by chance acquire this dog from the animal control center?”

“I did, why, is there a problem?”

“There is, in fact. This dog used to belong to my wife, but one day it attacked me. I wanted the beast put down, but my wife insisted that he was a good dog and deserved the chance at a life with another family... I must say I am uncomfortable with the idea that a dog with such levels of aggression is being used in your study... I worry about the safety of your team”

It was then that Severa remembered what she had read on Indech’s intake report. If it was correct, and she had no reason to believe it wasn’t, Indech had attacked Corrin in defense of Corrin’s wife.

Corrin regarded Indech a moment longer, his cold gaze locked with the hard eyes of the dog before speaking again.

“Dr. Hokori, I want this dog destroyed. Put it down, it has no place in your study.”

Rather than object or attempt to argue at all, Subaki smiled pleasantly. “Of course Director, we will do so at once.”

Satisfied with the response, Corrin smirked and walked off, leaving a stunned Severa and submissive Subaki behind.

“Well you heard the man Severa, we’ll have to put this one down.”

“What?! No! I won’t allow it. He’s not a bad dog, his report said he was protecting the wife, he didn’t attack the director for no reason!”

Subaki frowned, his eyes betraying his annoyance with Severa. He hesitated for a moment, before turning and walking toward the lab door.

“I suppose I can look the other way if the dog just happens to disappear... Have him gone by the end of the day.”

Severa felt a wave of relief as Subaki entered the lab, the door swinging shut after him. Looking down at Indech, once again calm and relaxed now that Corrin had gone, Severa smiled.

“Looks like you’re coming with me, buddy. Let’s go home now, they won’t miss either of us.”

Her mind made up, Severa led Indech out of the building, bringing him to her home.

* * *

Later that evening Severa went out to buy supplies for her companion once she had made sure Indech was settled in his new surroundings.

Walking back, she thought about how cold Corrin’s gaze had been when he stared Indech down. The implication that Corrin abused his wife frankly pissed her off. She was just passing an alley when she heard the sound of an animal crying out. 

Without thinking, Severa went to investigate, only to be shocked into immobility by what she found. 

It was Corrin, too absorbed in his actions to take note of Severa as he pulled his leg back and kicked the cowering stray at his feet. The look in his eyes was cold and dark, with just a bit of evil delight as the dog tried to defend itself, only for Corrin to kick it again and pick it up by its throat. 

Corrin’s face twisted with an expression of abject malevolence before he threw the dog at his feet, the poor thing yelping at it hit the ground. 

Severa was frozen in shock, coming back to her senses the first time Corrin’s foot came down on the dog and quickly turned behind the corner of the alley. She realized with horror that the evil man behind her was imagining Indech as utterances of “that’ll teach you to attack me”, and “damn dog, damn wife” reached her ears. Tears welled up in her eyes and she had to cover her mouth with her hand as the sounds of violence continued, the yelps becoming weaker until they stopped altogether, though the sounds of brutality continued.

Finally, after far too long, Corrin stopped, breathing hard. There was a sound of shoes scraping across the ground, and then footsteps sounded, fading as they continued down the alley.

Though knowing the probable state of the dog, Severa forced herself to check the scene on the chance that the dog was still alive. What she found caused her to quickly turn away, emptying her stomach at the gruesome scene.

What had originally been a dog was now a mess of broken flesh and bones, blood splattered across the ground. Gore covered the alley, the dog’s remains smeared and flattened across the pavement.

Severa began crying in earnest, horrified by unnecessary cruelty and senseless death. Picking up the dropped bag of pet supplies, Severa hurried home, collapsing on the floor once the door closed behind her, sobbing as Indech came over to comfort her.

Severa was in a state of shock, but as her horror subsided, it was replaced by an overwhelming sense of anger and hate. A familiar pain swept through her body, and she cried out, and the last thing she saw before her eyes closed from the pain was Indech cowering and backing away from her, running up the stairs to her bedroom to get away from the evil that awakened once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a personal note, I actually like using pipettes a lot, I think it’s fun, though it can be tedious if you’re doing a lot of pipetting. It’s funny actually, I’ve used them so many times, and yet when I transferred from my community college (I worked in the biology department as a student employee to prepare and maintain the lab experiments and lab rooms for students/professors) to my 4-year university, I accidentally misused a pipette. I pressed down too far on the plunger bit and drew up too much of the solution I was transferring. Needless to say, I was super embarrassed, making such an amateur mistake like that.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the second murder scene, our victim obviously being Corrin. This one is much more intense than the first murder (I think actually it is THE most intense of all of them), so be aware of that. 
> 
> Also, you may be aware of the phenomenon where when a person is in an extreme situation, such as their child trapped under a car or some such thing, that a person’s limits may temporarily “lifted”, giving them access to much more strength than they usually have, though this strength can be damaging to the individual (which is why it’s not usually accessible). In the case of Selena (and Harold), when they are in control, they have some access to that strength, which is why Selena is capable of certain actions in this chapter, specifically the ability to rip through cartilage and bone with her bare hands.
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS  
> Mentions of Infidelity  
> Mentions of Paying for Sex  
> Gore  
> Graphic Description of Murder  
> Dehumanizing Language

* * *

The evening fog was just rolling thick and heavy into the streets of Ylisstol, and a certain director at a certain hospital was making his way through the city towards the piers and docks.

Even though this man had a wife who tried to love and serve him as best she could, this man didn’t care all that much for her. They had married as part of an agreement between their families, a betrothal arranged when they were only children. This man and his wife had grown up together, and while he did think his wife was a pleasant woman, he also thought she was rather dull.

In bed she was submissive, which wasn’t exactly a problem, it was more that she was submissive to the point that she just laid there like a log while the man had his way with her. It was dreadfully boring, and while he would never turn down sex, he dreaded having it with his wife. 

On this night the man was making his way to the brothels of the lower part of town, his pockets full of coin to pay every woman he might spend time with. He was rather well known among the prostitutes for being an insatiable, well-paying client, though not many would willingly choose to lay with him as he was rather... rough.

Unbeknownst to the man, he was being followed, the shadow stalking him watching his leisurely pace, taking a sick amusement in the man’s obliviousness to his impending doom.

As Corrin walked deeper into the slums, the fog thickened, muffling the sounds around him. Behind him, the she-devil quickened her step, bumping into her target and intentionally tripping, falling onto her hands and knees and crying out. 

“Are you alright miss?” 

Selena looked up through her eyelashes, giving Corrin a wide-eyed look as she subtly pouted her lips. Her move produced its intended reaction, a look of perversion passing through Corrin’s eyes before it turned into one of fake concern. 

Selena gave Corrin a coy smile as he helped her up. 

“Are you okay, miss? You took quite a tumble there.” 

Selena ignored the question as she brushed herself off, before looking up at Corrin and flashing him her most charming smile, internally delighted as Corrin seemed to melt under it, a look of desire once again passing through his eyes. 

“Oh thank you sir, I’m just so clumsy when I drink too much,” Selena purred as she slurred her words, Corrin’s look slowly turning into an outright leer. Selena paused, before stumbling forward and into Corrin, holding on to him as he caught her. 

“Oops, thank you sir... Forgive me, I’m just  _ sooo  _ clumsy when I drink.” 

Selena looked up at the lecherous man, grinning flirtatiously at him. “Heyy, mister... how would you like to go into that alley there and have your way with me? No fee, I’m just _dying_ to have a good time, and  _ you  _ look like you’d more than fit the bill.” 

At this point, it was clear she had him hooked as Corrin looked around the empty street. “Well... sure, why not. I could go for some fun.” 

Selena giggled and broke away from Corrin, playfully beckoning to him as she walked into the alley, giggling again as Corrin stepped toward her. Turning around, Selena walked further into the dead-end alley, her and Corrin’s footsteps counting down the seconds to his demise. 

Selena smiled devilishly as she silently pulled a short pipe that Corrin hadn’t noticed out of her purse, gripping it carefully. 

“Well let’s get to it then miss, this is as good a spot as any.” 

“Of course,  _ sir _ .” 

Selena came to a halt, hearing Corrin stop close behind her, before exploding into a flurry of movement. 

Selena turned, swinging the pipe and hitting Corrin across his head. Corrin stumbled, holding his head as he cried out in shock and pain. Selena stepped closer as Corrin adjusted his stance and stood up, swinging the pipe again and this time hitting the side of his knee, hard enough that the ligaments in the joint tore, causing him to fall to the ground, unable to use his leg to scramble away. 

Selena dropped her purse from her arm, but not before she pulled a leather cord and strip of cloth from it. Selena moved again, taking the pipe still in her hands and striking the area where Corrin’s diaphragm was, winding him. Selena tossed the pipe aside and kicked the pig onto his stomach, before kneeling down and tying his hands together tightly behind his head.

Selena smirked as she rolled him onto his back again, ignoring his cries and groans of pain as she stuffed the cloth into his mouth, silencing him.

Moving over to her discarded purse, Selena pulled out a butcher knife that she had painstakingly and lovingly sharpened, the edge reflecting the glow of the moon hanging above them as she settled herself over Corrin’s groin, straddling him.

Selena chuckled darkly as she gently ran the knife against Corrin’s face, a line of blood trailing the path of the blade despite barely touching the skin.

The demon grinned wickedly as she took in the pathetic creature’s muffled squeals of pain, tears forming in the eyes and fear shining in its wild stare.

“How does it feel Corrin? Being in  _ such _ a similar position as that poor,  _ poor _ dog you destroyed today? How does it feel knowing  _ you’re _ the helpless one now? How does it feel knowing  _ you’re _ the prey?”

Selena didn’t bother waiting for a reaction, instead tearing his shirt from its tuck in his pants and ripping it apart.

With a look of utter malevolence on her face, Selena began slowly slicing Corrin open.

The skin was flayed, torn apart and away from the muscles underneath. Blood spilled as the demon took the knife and began cutting the muscles of the torso open, starting with the pectoral muscles of the chest, ripping them away from the rib cage, before moving to the abdomen, slicing each layer of muscle there apart and pulling it open, dissecting the body.

All the while Selena carefully watched her victim’s face, drawing back when it seemed he was about to pass out, waiting for him to recover before starting again, his muffled screams for mercy going unheard, his prayers for rescue unanswered.

  
  


With the abdominal muscles pulled apart, Selena took a moment to herself to appreciate her handiwork, the exposed organs pulsing, blood spilling onto the ground and shining black in the moonlight.

Corrin sobbed into the gag as Selena made eye contact with him, smiling as she placed the knife down and turned her attention to his chest again, wet cracks echoing through the alley as she tore the ribs out of the body, throwing them to the side carelessly, slowly exposing the lungs and other organs directly underneath them. The last bone she ripped out was the sternum, breaking it from the connected clavicles and revealing the rapidly beating heart from underneath it.

Selena paused for another moment, breathing deeply and enjoying the feeling of endorphins and sinful delight pulsing through her body as she picked up the butcher knife again. Gripping it in one hand, Selena ran a finger over the back of the knife from handle to tip, an evil gleam in her eyes as Corrin beheld Satan in the flesh, tears of pain and terror running down his face.

A wide, dark smile slowly broke out over Selena’s features, and time slowed down as she raised the knife above her head, before bringing it down, roughly tearing at Corrin’s liver, and a wild depraved laugh wrested itself from her throat as she alternated between slashing away at the organ, and pulling pieces out and tossing them aside, blood splattering across her clothes and face, looking like a demon in the dim lighting of the alley. 

As Selena cut the last bit of the liver out, she regarded the lump of flesh in her hand for a moment, before smirking and ripping the handkerchief out of the mouth of the barely conscious animal beneath her, ignoring the weak whimper as she forced the destroyed organ into its snout, causing it to gag on the taste of iron and raw meat.

Selena continued quickly from then, knowing she had very little time before the creature under her succumbed to its injuries. Cut after sloppy cut was inflicted, organs being punctured and split, spilling their messy contents into the body cavity as they were removed and thrown about the alley.

Corrin was dead long before Selena finished. Panting from the intense rush of pleasure that surged through her, Selena looked down at the remains with glee. All the organs had been ripped and torn from their rightful places, blood, fecal matter, and other such bodily detritus pooling in the empty body cavity.

Tear tracks were slowly drying down the face, a look of abject terror etched permanently on the pale face in death, the eyes hollow and dark.

Picking up the handkerchief she had tossed aside, Selena wiped the knife off, wrapping it up carefully before getting up and brushing herself off, wiping her face with her sleeve and smearing blood and viscera across her features. 

Grabbing her abandoned purse, Selena looked down one last time at the destruction she had created, emitting a light, bubbly giggle as she walked out of the alley, tossing the knife and handkerchief into the nearby pier.

As Selena watched the bundle sink into the water, a scream came from the direction of the alley as someone had already stumbled upon the body.

A smile made its way across her face, and the devil in human skin melted into the fog, humming gaily as it headed home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this scene, while I guess particularly gruesome, one part specifically that is very improbable/inaccurate, is that Corrin would’ve probably passed out from pain before Selena even got through cutting through the first layer (there are four) of abdominal muscles, no matter how patient she was. Actually, I just checked what I wrote, Corrin would’ve probably passed out when his pectoral (chest) muscles were dissected because again they are attached to the rib cage, and Selena would have had to not only cut into the pectorals but then tear them away from the rib cage (Not to mention he would probably just die of shock before all of that).
> 
> Another thing that I would assume to be very difficult (though I did mention Selena has access to the body’s “emergency strength”) would be to break and remove the ribs and sternum. I mean not only are we talking about bone and cartilage you would have to break through, but there is actually muscle between each individual rib, connecting them to each other, as well as other muscles that are attached on the sides. Just, basically there would be a lot of different muscles you would need to tear the rib bones away from. In the story, I mention that Corrin is still alive after this has happened, but again he would have probably bled out or otherwise died from shock, not to mention unless Selena was super careful she would have probably damaged the heart when she breaks the sternum off.
> 
> Anyway enough of my anatomy musings, I’m not a doctor. I've only taken an anatomy class. Comments are appreciated, especially if you found this scene particularly horrifying.


End file.
